-
So apparently, foxes are entering houses and attacking sleeping babies. Something almost entirely unheard of.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/10251349.stm
I imagine this story will 'develop', as they say.
-
Does it matter whether it's ever happened before? Assuming we've no creationists on the board, a key feature of all animals is that every so often, they do something new. And by changing habitat, urban foxes have already demonstrated that they are among the more adaptable of their kin. Even if this does turn out to be a dog, doesn't prove that a fox will never do it. If they can recognise London kebab discards as food, they can certainly spot that a baby is.
-
Occam's Razor was created by a mediaeval theologian who believed that the world was fundamentally an unchanging place. Forgetting that key flaw in what was really only ever a codification of common sense - and as such, every bit as limited as common sense - has previously led to such unworthy spectacles as Ben Franklin preferring to think that other scientists were liars (a simple thing, true enough) than that meteorites could fall from the unchanging heavens.
-
Occam's Razor is not all it's cracked up to be, having been founded on a set of assumptions now almost universally discarded, to wit, that between the events described in the rest of the Bible and those in Revelation, nothing really changes. We live in a world where new things happen every day, we know that's nonsense. And Hell, even the mediaevals knew that foxes were crafty wee buggers whose deviousness and hunger knew no bounds.
Additionally - a lot of the fox 'experts' I'm seeing quoted as saying this sort of thing never happens, seem more like fox 'fans' to me. The BBC had one on saying that few foxes would even dare take on a cat - this is not the experience of cat-owners I know.
In conclusion: it's not surprising, and even if it were, so what? Surprises happen. -
Also not all that surprising as it has happened before. A fox got into a house and bit a baby in Kent a couple of years ago.
I know 3 people who have cats that have been attacked by foxes too - one cat lost an eye. I think that us townies are in danger of forgetting that nice as it may be to think of foxes trotting around the place like they're in a Disney film, they are still wild animals on the look out for easy food opportunities. -
And shit in our backgarden every night. Nothing we've tried can deter them, not Silent Roar pellets (lion shit stink) or one of those high pitched squeaker things. The garden stinks then the shit festers and grows hairs. Gross.
-
Of course if we didn't have the foxes the rat population would exponentially multiply overnight.
Seems to me the occurrence of foxes entering homes is rare, the chance of an attack far rarer. the poo stinks, they make a bit of a din sometimes but frankly i still quite like having them around.
If they'd only deal with more of the rats (who are far more likely to walk in through your back door) then i'd be even happier. -
I think Cat shit is more of a problem in our garden than the fox version.
Cats also annoy me because a lot of people seem to be in awe of them as nice little cuddly animals when in reality there are far too many of them around and they go about killing wildlife for fun !
At least in most cases (young children excepted) Foxes are actually hunting for their lunch.I think the introduction of wheely bins a few years back must have made it more difficult for foxes to find food as there are not as many black bags with food in them about the place.
-
my rat man has given me the order of predator
rats eat the mice (rats will also take on and win against cats as well he tells me)
squirrels will take on a rat and generally win
foxes will take on rats, squirrels (kill more likely than eat similarly to dogs/terriers) and will happily eat kebabs and chips
so, foxes are both the super-predator but are also smart enough to eat a kebab on the way home from the pub if feeling a bit tired
i like to think of them as urbane foxes -
A picture of a fox in the house shortly after the attack, in case anyone's still feeling a bit conspiracy theory. Now, obviously the fox could still be the victim of a frame-up by local feral dogs working in concert with the Countryside Alliance...or it could just have been snacking on some tasty infants.
-
@missisclack - i reckon your problem is with cats, not foxes. You're more likely to find cat turd and hair in your back garden than fox. Either way, if you think it's foxes, get a bloke (apparently works best, and is more practical) to go out in the cover of darkness and take a piss in the corner of your garden (preferably on the compost heap, if you have one), and if it's cats, try diluting a little citronella oil with water and spraying it around.
-
Well, hold on ADGS, that doesn't actually prove that fox did anything does it - the picture is of an animal in someone's back garden, which happens all the time (the BBC story is ambiguous in the description and the photo certainly isn't clear, but it looks to me like the fox is outside and the policeman inside). I don't think there's any reason to suspect the kids *weren't* hurt by a fox, but a mobile phone pic the like of which is posted all over the internet on a daily basis is hardly proof.
-
Thanks Nick. I'm going to REALLY enjoy ordering him indoors to go piss in the garden! We don't have a compost heap, but we'll work something out.
Just read the citronella tip on the wildlife thread too. Going to pop out now and buy me some.
Thanks!
Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Categories
- All Discussions3,498
- About this site238
- Classifieds183
- General chat744
- Local discussion2,257
- Reviews76
